‘Were you afraid of us?’ Vivian asked.
‘Not much. I… liked ya.’
‘I’ll just bet you did.’
‘Quit it, Finley.’
‘Oh, come on. The kid’s a voyeur. He was getting his jollies spying on us.’
‘That may be,’ Abilene said, ‘but I think he’s telling the truth about his brother.’
‘Brother or not, he got Helen killed. If he hadn’t been spying on us and decided to fuck around with our stuff, we never would’ve lost the car keys and we would’ve gotten outa this shit-hole last night and Helen’d still be alive. If he hadn’t swiped Viv’s bra, his fucking brother wouldn’t even’ve known we were here.’ She suddenly lunged at Jim. Arms outstretched, she rammed her hands against his chest. He staggered backward, dropped, and landed on his rump. As he looked up with surprise and pain in his eyes, Abilene sprang at Finley. She grabbed her friend’s arm and tugged, but not quick enough. The toe of Finley’s sneaker punched Jim under the chin. The kid flopped backward, his head bouncing off the ground.
‘Christ, Fin!’
She yanked her arm free of Abilene’s grip, but didn’t go after Jim again.
Vivian hurried over to him. She crouched by his side. His eyes were shut. For a moment, Abilene thought he might be dead. Then she detected the rise and fall of his chest. Vivian looked up at Finley. ‘Good going,’ she muttered.
‘He had it coming.’
‘You could’ve killed him.’
‘Tough. Serve him right.’
‘You didn’t have to do that,’ Cora said, ‘but maybe it’s just as well. Let’s tie him up before he comes to.’
‘What the hell for?’ Abilene protested.
‘So he doesn’t run off.’
‘He came with us on his own.’
‘But I don’t think he’d want to stick around for what I’ve got in mind.’
Finley didn’t need any more urging. She dropped to her knees beside Jim and plucked at one of the ropes that was knotted to a belt loop at the front of his jeans.
‘What do you have in mind?’ Abilene asked.
‘We keep him till we’re outa here.’
‘Keep him prisoner?’
‘I believe “hostage” is the appropriate term,’ Finley said. ‘Good plan, Cora. Wish I’d thought of it. Nobody’s gonna fuck with us as long as we’ve got the kid. Give me a hand,’ she told Vivian. Together, they rolled Jim onto his stomach. He moaned quietly, but didn’t struggle. Finley picked at the other knot.
‘I’m not sure it’s such a good idea,’ Abilene said.
‘Sure it is,’ Finley said. She got the knot loose and started to bind Jim’s hands behind his back.
‘He’ll be our insurance,’ Cora explained.
‘The brother might come looking for him.’
‘That’ll be just fine,’ Finley said. ‘We’ll blow his head off. That’s what we wanted to do in the first place. Now we’ll have Jimbo for bait instead of one of us.’
‘What if the whole family comes?’ Vivian asked.
‘They won’t attack us if we’ve got Jim,’ Cora said. ‘We’ll threaten to kill him. They’ll leave us alone.’
‘Not if we shoot the brother, they won’t,’ Abilene said. ‘Not if Helen’s story was true about what they did to the lodge people.’
‘It was true, all right,’ Vivian said. ‘You heard what Jim said. Hank was one of them. So this is the family that did it. We oughta just leave him and get outa here.’
‘How do we go about that?’ Cora asked. ‘I’m not going anywhere. Not unless somebody comes up with the… check his pockets!’
‘We already asked him about the keys,’ Abilene said.
Check!’
Finley, done tying his hands, patted the seat pockets of his jeans. Then she jammed a hand under his right thigh while Vivian did the same on the other side. ‘Nope,’ Finley said. Vivian shook her head.
‘Shit,’ Cora muttered.
‘Maybe Hank’s got ’em,’ Finley suggested. ‘He took the bra from the kid. Maybe he took the keys, too.’
‘Jim told us he never saw the keys,’ Abilene said.
‘You believe everything he says, Hickok?’
‘My God, he admitted taking the bra, and that embarrassed the hell out of him. He doesn’t know anything about the keys.’
‘Hank still might have them,’ Cora said. ‘If he didn’t take them from Jim, he could’ve gotten them when he… found Helen.’
‘We’ll find out when we bag him.’
‘And suppose he doesn’t have the keys?’ Abilene asked. ‘Then we’ll be stuck here and the whole damn clan’ll want our blood.’
‘Not to mention Batty,’ Vivian added.
‘This really sucks,’ Cora muttered.
They were all silent for a while. Jim raised his face off the ground, pulled a bit at the rope around his hands, then lowered his head again and didn’t move or speak.
‘I still think we should keep him for insurance,’ Cora finally said. ‘We’ll find a good hiding place in the woods. Abilene and I, we’ll hang onto him just in case while you two go for help.’
‘Who two?’ Finley asked.
‘You and Viv.’
‘No way. I’m not leaving you guys here. Not a chance. I aim to be around when Great Big Billy Goat Hank comes looking. I wanta be the one to drop him.’
‘For Godsake, Finley, the important thing is getting out of here alive.’
‘Speak for yourself. I’m not going anywhere till Hank’s dead.’
Cora sighed. ‘All right. Then you stay with me, and we’ll have
Abilene and Vivian go for help. Somebody's got to, or we’ll be here forever.’
‘We’ll have a better chance if we all stick together,’ Vivian said.
‘Fuckin’-A,’ Finley said.
Vivian nodded. ‘I’m not leaving.’
Cora looked at Abilene.
‘Me neither. I don’t want to come back with the cops and find you guys… hurt. We can worry about getting away from this damn place after we’ve… taken care of business. When there isn’t any more threat.’
‘If we go down,’ Finley said, ‘we all go down together.’
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Jim made no effort to escape as Vivian, holding his aim, led him across the field toward the lodge. The other three followed them, Abilene walking along with the water bottle while Finley supported Cora.
Jim’s cut-off jeans, held up only by the single rope over his shoulder, hung at a slant that bared the top of his left buttock. The way he looked reminded Abilene of the guy in New York City. Wade? Wayne. That guy had been shirtless, too, with his jeans low. She remembered how Wayne had led them back to the hotel, how she’d suspected he might try to pull something, and how upset Helen had been when they’d refused to let him into their rooms. Only Helen had trusted the guy. Only Helen had been right about him.
